Morning Skate: Red Wings at Blues
Game 44
8p ET, The Gutter Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Blues Blog: St. Louis Game Time
Well hello old scum. It's been 9 months since the Wings and Blues set foot (skate?) in the same building to battle for 2 points. It was April 13, 2014, the final game of the regular season, when Petr Mrazek and the Wings handed the Blues a shutout loss in the very same building they'll be in tonight. Justin Abdelkader scored his 9th and 10th goals of the season, Riley Sheahan scored his 9th, David Legwand and Todd Bertuzzi were still Red Wings, and both Ryan Sproul and Xavier Ouellet were in the lineup. The Red Wings list of injured in that game included Daniel Alfredsson, Danny Cleary, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Johan Franzen, Jonas Gustavsson, and Niklas Kronwall. It was a bad time to be named Daniel/Danny, or a Swede with a "Jo" name.
Remembering all the injuries takes me back to a dark time. It's a much brighter world this time around with the Wings having won 6 of their last 10 games, having points in 7 of their last ten and sitting behind only 2 pts behind Montreal and 3 pts behind Tampa Bay in the division. The Blues aren't a great team, but Vladimir Terasenko is pretty great and if anyone on the team can burn the Wings and make something from little or nothing, it's the 23 year old Russian who's 7th in points in the NHL, and 4th in goals. Yeah, he's pretty good.
The Blues are a team I have particular revulsion for, they make me feel dirty just thinking about them. *shudder * Heck, even Marty Brodeur is taking a "leave of absence" from the team and I'm guessing it was a combination of the stench, and the caveman grunting and hair pulling.
I expect a hard fought, physical game where the Blues try to act like bullies and play dirty. With Tampa playing the Oilers tonight (a probable 2 points) and Montreal taking on the Sens, two points for the Wings will either keep them on pace, or possible put them in 2nd place in the Atlantic, depending on how the Habs do.
Prediction: Teemu Pulkkinen (Teeny Pokemon, according to my phone) scores a goal, has an assist, and the Wings win.
The Expected Lineups (Subject to Change)
Forwards
| Henrik Zetterberg | Pavel Datsyuk | Justin Abdelkader |
| Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Stephen Weiss | Darren Helm | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Joakim Andersson |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Danny DeKeyser | Kyle Quincey |
| Xavier Ouellet | Brendan Smith |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek (starting) |
| Thomas McCollum |
Scratches: Brian Lashoff & Daniel Cleary
Injuries: Tomas Jurco (back), Jakub Kindl (elbow), Jimmy Howard (groin), Jonas Gustavsson (shoulder), Johan Franzen (upper body)
Forwards
| Alex Steen | David Backes | T.J.Oshie |
| May The Jaden Schwartz Be With You | Jori Lehtera | Vladamir Tarasenko |
| Dimitrij Jaskin | Paul Stastny | Patrik Berglund |
| Steve Ott | Maxim Lapierre | Ryan Reaves |
Defensemen
| Jay Bouwmunster | Alex Pietrangelo |
| Carl Gunnarsson | Kevin Shattenkirk |
| Barret Jackass | Ian Cole |
Goaltenders
| Brian Elliott (starting) |
| Jake Allen |
| BLUES | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 27-13-3 (57 pts; 3rd in Central) | Record | 23-11-9 (55 pts; 3rd in Atlantic) |
| 3.16 (2nd in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.77 (13th in NHL) |
| 2.44 (8th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.33 (5th) |
| 25.5% (1st) | Power Play % | 24.2% (3rd) |
| 80.0% (19th) | Penalty Kill % | 86.5% (5th) |
| Vladimir Tarasenko (24 goals) | Goal Leader | Tomas Tatar (17 goals) |
| Vladimir Tarasenko (46 points) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (36 points) |
- The Red Wings are 119-111-37-8 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time in the regular season against the St. Louis Blues.
- Last 10 Games: St. Louis 6-4-0, Detroit 6-3-1
- Petr Mrazek is 2-0-0 with a .80 GAA, .969 SV% and 1 shutout against the Blues. His first NHL game was a win against the Blues back on February 7, 2013/